What is “Your Green Resource”? It’s your chance to share all your green ideas, resources and solutions with ALL of our readers! That’s right, when you link up on any of our blogs, your idea will get shared with all of the readers here and at:

Andrea of The Greenbacks Gal, Emily at Live Renewed and Megan at Sorta Crunchy

We know that many of you have posts of your own about your green journey that our readers will love. Some examples of Green Resources you can link up:

* Real Food Recipes
* Repurposed Projects
* Upcycled Projects
* Organic Gardening Tips
* DIY Natural or Green
* Thrifty Solutions

In addition to making this a weekly place where you can both share and learn new green ideas, each week we’ll be Pinning our favorite post to the Your Green Resource board! We want your green ideas to go viral – so we’ll pin the post for you!

The pinned post from last week is:

Homemade Ketchup @ Frugally Sustainable. Thisis definitely something I’m going to make. It looks so easy.

I can’t wait to see what you’ve got to share this week.

Don’t forget to link back to one of the hostess so we can all find these great green resources!

Please link to your post not your homepage, or else we can’t find what you’re meaning to share.

Happy Thursday!

What is “Your Green Resource”? It’s your chance to share all your green ideas, resources and solutions with ALL of our readers! That’s right, when you link up on any of our blogs, your idea will get shared with all of the readers here and at:

Andrea of The Greenbacks Gal, Emily at Live Renewed and Megan at Sorta Crunchy

We know that many of you have posts of your own about your green journey that our readers will love. Some examples of Green Resources you can link up:

* Real Food Recipes
* Repurposed Projects
* Upcycled Projects
* Organic Gardening Tips
* DIY Natural or Green
* Thrifty Solutions

In addition to making this a weekly place where you can both share and learn new green ideas, each week we’ll be “Stumbling Upon” our favorite post! We want your green ideas to go viral – so we’ll stumble the post for you!

The stumbled post from last week was:

Baked Oatmeal by Large Family Living in a Small Family World

This looks delicious. I’m making it for breakfast today!

I can’t wait to see what you’ve got to share this week.

Don’t forget to link back to one of the hostess so we can all find these great green resources!

Oh, and please link to your post not your homepage, or else we can’t find what you’re meaning to share.

Happy Thursday!

Can you believe it’s almost Christmas? December has flown by. I hope you are all enjoying the season.

What is “Your Green Resource”? It’s your chance to share all your green ideas, resources and solutions with ALL of our readers! That’s right, when you link up on any of our blogs, your idea will get shared with all of the readers here and at:

Andrea of The Greenbacks Gal, Emily at Live Renewed and Megan at Sorta Crunchy

We know that many of you have posts of your own about your green journey that our readers will love. Some examples of Green Resources you can link up:

* Real Food Recipes
* Repurposed Projects
* Upcycled Projects
* Organic Gardening Tips
* DIY Natural or Green
* Thrifty Solutions

In addition to making this a weekly place where you can both share and learn new green ideas, each week we’ll be “Stumbling Upon” our favorite post! We want your green ideas to go viral – so we’ll stumble the post for you!

The stumbled post from last week was from Frugally Sustainable again! You’ll find a lot of great stuff there.

15 Potentially Free Gifts That Show Someone You Care – Some great ideas, including a few you could still implement in time for Christmas.

I can’t wait to see what you’ve got to share this week.

Don’t forget to link back to one of the hostess so we can all find these great green resources!

Oh, and please link to your post not your homepage, or else we can’t find what you’re meaning to share.

Happy Thursday!

The winner of the Savvy Teas and Herbs $30 gift certificate is Tauna of Proverbial Homemaker. Congratulations Tauna!

Savvy Teas and Herbs provided a discount code for us to use:

Enter SAV10 at checkout to get 10% off.

I’ll certainly take advantage of this. I’ve been drinking tea like crazy and will need to re-stock soon.

The winner of Smart Sweets Dessert ebook is Krissa of More than Mundane (who has a fun giveaway of her own right now).

Congrats, Krissa!

If you didn’t win and would like to buy a copy of Smart Sweets, use discount Code Delightful25 to get 25% off. Code expires Dec. 23.

Christmas cards are a great way to show a little love. Here are two quick ideas that will make them extra special:

1. Make them Smell Good

Place a drop or two of your favorite essential oil on a cotton ball.

Put the cotton ball and the cards into a container with a lid.

Leave to sit for a couple of days.

The cards will take on a subtle fragrance.

Some suggestions for oils:

• Lavender
• Lemon
• Sweet Orange
• Cinnamon
• Sandalwood

2. Add the Power of Prayer

Pray for each recipient as you put their cards in an envelope, address them or place on the stamp.

Your recipients may be none the wiser, but you will have talked to the Father on their behalf, and that is always a good thing!

Even better, get the children involved in praying. It will make a lasting impression on them. This can even be a new Christmas tradition!

Do you do anything special with your Christmas cards?

Top Image Credit

It’s Thursday again. Time for Your Green Resource. Woot!

What is Your Green Resource? It’s your chance to share all your green ideas, resources and solutions with ALL of our readers! So when you link up on any of our blogs, your idea will be shared with all of the readers here and at:

Andrea at The Greenbacks Gal, Megan at Sorta Crunchy, and Emily at Live Renewed

We know that many of you have posts of your own about your green journey that our readers will love.

Some examples of Green Resources you can link up:
* Real Food Recipes
* Repurposed Projects
* Upcycled Projects
* Organic Gardening Tips
* DIY Natural or Green
* Thrifty Solutions

In addition to making this a weekly place where you can both share and learn new green ideas, each week we’ll be “Stumbling Upon” the favorite post with the most page views! We want your green ideas to go viral – so we’ll stumble the post for you!

Last week’s post with the most views was this wonderful hard lotion bar tutorial from Kind Crunchy Kate:

Kate gives you all all the details on making hard lotion and provides step-by-step instructions with photos.

So, now it’s your turn.

Link up your green posts, old or new.

A few things to remember:

-Link to your post, not your homepage.

-For your post to be eligible for stumbling, link back to one of the hosts.

-Visit some of the other Your Green Resource participants to find new resources and like-minded pals.

This is a guest post by Crystal of Intentional Homemaker

Fear of Failure. It’s something I wrestle with every day as a mom.

Let me share something with you that taught me a valuable lesson.  As I was first getting to know one of my good friends, I was certain she was a mom who had it all together. As a mom of two children less than one year apart, I had a lot of fear about being a mom and all that entailed.

My friend always spoke calmly, gently, and quietly, with the just right amount of firmness when correcting and disciplining.

She planned creative and fun activities and outings.

She was respectful and submissive to her husband.

She had a beautiful home that always seemed neat and tidy.

She attended Bible study and practiced hospitality.

As our friendship grew and developed, and we shared more of our lives with each other, it became very clear that NO MOM HAS IT ALL TOGETHER, appearances or not.

At that moment, I realized that I had fallen into the trap of measuring my success as a mom against other moms.

My amazing friend is a beautiful example to me of godly motherhood.  But, is she perfect?  No?  Am I a perfect mom?  No.

And, what’s more, we never can be.

Too many times I confuse pursuing excellence with striving for perfection. And, that causes trouble, not just for me, but also for my family, too.  Excellent is defined as “very good of its kind,” described by words like beautiful, fine, top-notch.  I didn’t find one place that defined being excellent as being perfect.  Perfect is defined as “being entirely without fault or defect.”  It’s unattainable, impossible to reach.

So how do I pursue excellence in motherhood without getting caught up in trying to achieve perfection?

1. Don’t Use Another Mom as the Standard for Mothering

I need to find my identity in Jesus Christ, not in the successes or failures of someone else.  While Jesus was perfect, and I never will be, I can pursue excellence by following His example.  Proverbs 31, Titus 2, and Ephesians 5 are just a few chapters directed toward women and their roles.

2. Do Find Another Mom as an Example, an Encourager, and an Empathizer

While I shouldn’t use other moms as my standard, I do need them.  It’s so helpful to surround myself with other moms who share my faith and views on parenting.  These women challenge me, hold me accountable, encourage me, and understand me.

3. Don’t Get Caught up in Feeling Guilty

So many times I get so discouraged because I feel so guilty about all that I’m not doing.  While I need to examine myself for issues like selfishness or laziness, I need to remember that my view of motherhood needs to correspond with God’s.  I need to do my best, but does that mean setting unrealistic expectations and goals? Does my house need to be spotless and my children fluent in six languages by age 5?  No.

4. Do Set Reasonable Goals

I have to remember that I am only one person.  I can’t “do it all.”  So, I have to set reasonable goals for myself as a mom.  That may mean sitting down with my husband every so often and talking about what we want for our family, perhaps coming up with a vision or mission statement based on Biblical truths.  These types of tools help me stay focused and avoid unnecessary guilt and impossible expectations.

5. Do Realize That I Am Not God

Ultimately, I cannot change our children’s hearts.  I cannot change my husband’s or anyone else’s heart.  Only God can do that, and that is between each person and God.  It is my responsibility as a mom to instruct our children in Biblical truth, follow Jesus’ example as closely as I can, and then trust God to do what He says in the lives of our children.

Stacy’s note: I really appreciate this honest post from Crystal. I know this is a constant battle for many of us. I’d love to hear what you have to say:

Do you struggle with reaching for perfection instead of pursing excellence? What helps keep you on track?

Crystal is married to Jarvis and is a stay-at-home mama to four young children. She blogs at Intentional Homemaker where she encourages moms to grow as godly women and to be conscious homemakers.

(Top image from morgue file)

Christmas is already in the air! The world-wide web keeps reminding me that it’s just a few short weeks until this holiday is upon us.

Here are a few links to help you get ready:

Plan Your Peaceful Christmas, Task 1 – Simple Mom

Plan Your Peaceful Christmas, Task 2 – Simple Mom

Canning Jar Gift Ideas – Amy Bayliss

Black Friday Sale Alert!

Young Living Oil Lady is planning a big Black Friday Sale. Carrie offers some wonderful essential oils you’ll want to check out. They are excellent quality oils that you can even use internally! (Check out how to add essential oils to pumpkin waffles!)

Carrie also sends out informational emails about essential oils. You can sign up for those (and for more details about the Black Friday Sale, here)

And . . .

This coming week I will be participating in a Green Christmas Giveaway Bash along with some other bloggers. There will be a giveaway each day!  Be sure to check back for that! You’re going to love it.

Top image credit

But I did.

And it was good.

Spending time away from my family is a rare thing, so I made the most of it and gazed out of windows, ate plenty of chocolate, and scribbled lots of notes.

Upon arriving I heard a familiar voice in my ear. The one that whispers, “You’re not good enough.” “No one really cares.” “They don’t want to talk to you.” Insecurity rearing its ugly head.

Throughout the conference I forced myself to be brave, to speak when I was afraid, and listen to words flowing from women just as fearful as me.

It became obvious that so many of us are the same. We all look different, but we are the same in so many ways.

The theme of not being good enough ran through the words I heard. Many women, singing the same song:  I want someone to love me. Someone to know me. Someone to tell me I’m okay. To tell me I’m good enough.

In the end, we may or may not receive the gift of having a person say these things to us.

What we really need, and what I heard loud and clear through the Relevant conference, is to know that God loves us.

He loves us fervently.

He will not stop loving us.

This is the answer to all struggling and striving.

As much as I may want validation on this earth, it doesn’t matter in the end. What others think of me is not what I should cling to. What God thinks of me, well, that matters for eternity.

I’m thanking God for the smiling faces and accepting hearts I met this weekend. I’m grateful for the wonderful community women share. I’m so glad to be a woman!

I’m also thanking God for the beautiful reminder to look to Him in all circumstances, to seek His favor and instruction, and to fill myself with the One who truly satisfies.

We may not be good enough. But in Him, we can be. He covers the flaws and loves us anyway. Thanking God for making a way for each one to be forgiven and live with him eternally.

I’m linking to the Relevant11 Linky

Here’s my list of ten things you should know about me, in no particular order…

(I may or may not update this post with pictures later)

1. Even though I grew up in Australia, my accent has mostly disappeared. In fact, I talk a little funny. Sometimes my r’s sound like a’s. Even though my accent is mostly gone, I still use some Australia words and phrases that might make no sense to you. It’s okay if you laugh. I won’t mind.

2. Growing up in Australia, we did not have typing as part of the school curriculum . . . so, I have a unique typing style that entails some speedy, across the keyboard, one finger moves.

3. I get overly excited about food choices and food-related discussions.

For example, a new-acquaintance mentioned that she did not like cauliflower. Instead of saying something like, “Oh,” I burst into this: “Have you ever tried cauliflower roasted? It is SO good that way. Just toss it in some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then pop it in the oven. It is SO good!”

Don’t even get me started on Panini fillings. . .

I’ll be hunting the real food choices at the conference. I’m definitely a lover of real food. I think butter is good.

4. I’m coming from the West coast. I’ll probably have a hard time waking up in the morning. I don’t drink coffee (I wish I did), but I do have my tea stash already packed. Priorities.

5. I’m bringing my favorite workout DVDs. I’m not saying I’ll do them, but they are there and I might try to con you into a workout session. Maybe even an #eatpraylose group workout. If not that, then a nice walk outside would be lovely.

6. I’m pretty sure I’ll cry at some point. But don’t feel bad. It’s okay, really.

7. I thought it was a good idea to get an inexpensive haircut at the local beauty school. It wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. I’ll be trying to make it look decent with my Velcro rollers. Prepare to be dazzled (snort).

8. I love to talk about motherhood and life in general. I want to know how you do things but sometimes I’m afraid to ask for fear of overstepping. I love to listen and want to hear about your life.

9. I’m fairly shy, but can really talk it up on certain topics. I have no idea if I’m going to be nervous or not. Probably a little.

10. I don’t have any cute pajamas. If I don’t find any when I go out today, I’ll be wearing my old ones. I don’t think you will care.

I’ll linking up toErin’s where others are sharing what there Relevant roomies should know.

Follow me on twitter: @DelightfulHome

Facebook: Facebook.com/ADelightfulHome